


A City Divided

by forty_Marris_pies



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, An Overuse of Paint, College Alumni, Don't Kill Me, Flirting, He Didn't Deserve Alexander, Henry Laurens Vaguely Mentioned, Henry Laurens' A+ Parenting, I Love Both Schools, I'm Writing This While Watching The Game, In the Form of Tommy Trojan, M/M, Prank Wars, Red vs. Blue - Freeform, Rivalry Week, Statue Vandalism, Stop Alexander, Stop The Tommy Abuse, Tommy Trojan, USC vs. UCLA, University Of California Los Angeles, University of Southern California, camping out, poor Tommy, what else can I say?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 04:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12762867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forty_Marris_pies/pseuds/forty_Marris_pies
Summary: John and his brothers of the Trojan Knights of USC camped out during rivalry week to protect their statue, Tommy Trojan, from their rivals, UCLA, and pranksters with any bright ideas.Unfortunately, Alex loves pranks and hates USC.





	A City Divided

**Author's Note:**

> True Story: On a middle school field trip to the USC campus, my friend fogged up the school bus window to write the words "UCLA Bruins" backwards so it can be read correctly from the outside. Luckily, we lived to tell the story.
> 
> As a life time resident of Los Angeles, I can't chose sides. I've toured both schools, actually went to one of their crosstown rivalry football games back in 2014, and have friends from either side. So I wrote a Hamilton fic with both schools. I hope you enjoy!

Tench clapped his hands loudly, gaining the attention of the other four men. “Alright, boys. This is our week. We’ve got seven more days till the game, which means we have to keep our eyes peeled for 168 hours. Our little Tommy Trojan didn’t get wrapped in tape for nothing. So stay strong; this may be difficult for some of you, and I understand that you’ve all made a real sacrifice to be here. But I promise you, your sacrifice will be rewarded. To a good week,” he holds up a styrofoam soda cup, “for the Trojan Knights!”

A cheer erupts from the group, all if them high-fiving and laughing deeply. It was 10 p.m., the only source of light being a street lamp a few yards away. The five of them — John Laurens, Tench Tilghman, James McHenry, Hercules Mulligan, and Richard Meade — set up camp a few hours ago in preparation for their annual Tommy Watch.

There were tables, foldable chairs, and sleeping bags scattered around the floor surrounding the statue. They would reside next to the iconic Tommy Trojan statue during the entirety of rivalry week up until the big football game with the USC Trojans versus the UCLA Bruins.

Was camping out for seven days going too far? Did they really have to take such extreme measures to prevent vandalism and defend their honor?

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is that, in those seven days, there would be three attempts at vandalism by rival students, and they all involved a certain Alexander Hamilton.

Let’s start from the beginning.

  
Day One: An Unexpected Visitor.

The day had been going well. For the first time in a long time, the weather in the city wasn’t scorching hot, which meant the hours could be passed playing small matches of softball and talk amongst one another. Fellow students would stop by during the day to express their support with food and snacks. Even administrators would reach for a pat on the back, thanking the five friends for their spirit and determination.

But John Laurens was not in the mood. His father called just hours ago to remind his son of the disappointment he was to the family, yelling at him through the phone so loudly that his friends could hear and the conversation and back off before they interrupted.

John had ran off after high school, refusing to inform his father of the huge jump he made from South Carolina to the University of Southern California in the west coast.

He would have stayed in his home state had his father not practically disowned him once he came out. It was the one thing John feared, but it was so heart wrenching for him to keep the secret, and so he spilled on graduating, preparing himself for his father’s wrath. Their relationship was strained, to say the least, and John’s friends had trouble understanding why he still tried to make ends neat with his asshole of a father.

John was sitting by himself leaning on the base of Tommy Trojan, the sun hiding behind the duck taped statue, his hands fiddling with themselves as he mentally lectured himself on how terrible a son he was. Suddenly, a granola bar was shoved into his face.

Tench stared at John with a questioning look. “You alright? You haven’t eaten since the morning.”

John shook his head, accepting the bar after realizing that the only thing he’d snacked on were a couple of cold pop tarts and some Pringles. “Yeah, I’m fine. My head’s just,” he waved his hand around, “somewhere else.”

Although he wasn’t convinced, Tench didn’t want to push the issue. “If you say so. But tell me, if you ever need to back out, I’d be glad. Nobody’s gonna judge you for it.” John gave him a thumbs up and the conversation ended, leaving John to munch on his granola bar in silence.

Well, it would have been silence, had he not picked up on the sound of hushed talking coming from a nearby bush. He stood up, suddenly alert, and searched with his eyes for the source of the sound.

A bird flew past him, distracting him for just a second, but enough that through the corner of his eye, he saw the movement of something large inside of the bush. Inspecting it with careful eyes, John bit his lip in concentration. His body was preparing itself to sprint after whoever decided to hide in a bush for who knows how long in order to hurt their Tommy Trojan.

It would definitely be a feat, only mad men would dare to attempt, and unfortunately for the five guys camping out, those mad men were preparing for their attack at that very moment.

A unique rivalry, the media would call it. Both USC and the University of California, Los Angeles were in the mega city of Los Angeles; in fact, their campuses were only twelve miles apart. Both are considered with high rankings throughout the nation, and both have excellent success in their sports.

John never had much of an interest in that aspect of the school until his friend Hercules convinced him to apply and join the Trojan Knights. There, he met Tench and James, the two of them glad to welcome the sophomores into their group.

Rivalry week at USC was an exciting week on campus. They had bonfires, celebrations, a ‘Blood Bowl’, and of course, their annual Tommy Watch. Other members would accompany them for a few hours, but these five were determined to camp out as long as possible. The group would also send members to guard other important statues and landmarks for the week, but Tommy Trojan was their number one priority.

The staff would wrap Tommy in a protective plastic and duck tape, and someone would hang up a large stuffed bear in mockery of the rival school.

Similarly, students on the Bruin Bear Security Force secured their Bruin Bear in a hibernating box and also sent people the hold a vigil guard. However, both schools had their own secret groups that would plan out a vandalism of the other’s statue, usually in the form of paint the color of their school. UCLA was normally represented with blue. USC was red.

The attempts would hardly succeed.

“John?” James, who had been vlogging their first day alongside Richard, stood up from his sleeping bag. “What’s up?”

John raised his hand behind him. “Get ready.” With those two words, the group of five gathered around John and stared intensely in the direction he was looking towards.

Hercules tapped Richard’s shoulder. “Go around. Cover the back.” He nodded. Hercules followed.

It was getting late, and the group hadn’t seen any students walking by for a while, but it was at that moment that a tall girl walked by the clock. She carried books in her arms, walked quickly, her heels clicking loudly on the sidewalk. They all turned their heads to see her, and she gave a small wave as she disappeared behind the red brick building.

Tench had the fleeting thought of how pretty she looked until it hit him that none of the guys knew who she was.

And then someone yelled out “Attack!” and everyone ran.

There were two of them in the bush who jumped out with blue ski masks hiding their identities. They held blue spray paint in cans, shaking them with vigor. John ran in front of them, shielding Tommy Trojan while Tench tried to apprehend them.

It would have worked, had the group noticed another guy without a mask coming from an unknown direction. He threw a ballon of paint at Hercules and Richard, who had their backs turned, now splattered with blue paint. The two with the ski masks took the distraction to run from John and Tench, sprinting in the direction of where the girl walked away.

One of them pulled out a Swiss knife and made a dash for Tommy Trojan.

In a swirl of confusion, John tackled them into the ground, holding one of their wrists and pushing down their chest to stop them from struggling. They didn’t have a ski mask, so he paused when his eyes met with theirs; him to be exact. His eyes were brown and wide, giving a contradicting look from the dark bags under them.

John found himself staring at the guy’s cheeks, his nose, his flush — presumably from the adrenaline — and his smirk, which was strange for a guy who’s plan had just been foiled.

Someone toppled John over, freeing the guy from his hold. He cursed out at them, then realized the situation had changed in those few seconds.

Hercules, James, and Richard were gone, the spray cans forgotten on the ground. The girl from before, who took off her heels to run faster, picked them up, climbed the statue, and sprayed indiscriminately.

“Hey!” Tench yelled. “She’s a girl, it’s not fair!”

The girl threw an empty can at his head, the loud clank making John wince. “Life ain’t fair, boys.” She turned her back to continue the tagging on the wrapped statue. The guy John had tackled laughed loudly.

“Hurry up, Angel, before they call security on us!”

“Call me Angel one more time and I’ll turn you in myself!”

John, who’s blood was boiling, ignored morals and threw the can back at her. She cried in pain, jumping down from the base to aid her bruised shoulder. “Fuck!”

“Shit!” The other guy grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the scene. The commotion called the attention of nearby students, who were just arriving to see Tommy Trojan’s wrapping vandalized.

The guy glanced around, obviously concerned about security forces coming for them. “We have to go. C’mon, go, go!” They ran past two students who didn’t know what was going on, and John cursed again.

He was breathing heavily, sweat glistening. Tench had gone to follow them, since he was the fastest runner, but he later reported that the two climbed into a vehicle and drove away. Hercules and Richard chased after the ski masks, but those got away as well.

And poor Tommy Trojan was left in blue.

  
Day Three: The Invaders Return.

Luckily, the vandalizers didn’t get the chance to cut open the wrappings on the statue, which the campus considered a win. They were able to wash off the paint with a hose, and all throughout the second day, students came to congratulate the group for protecting Tommy Trojan.

But John was still not in a good mood. Despite the publicity, he was still down in the dumps about his father, and now on top of that, he failed to catch the offenders.

“I had him right under me!” John exclaimed, showing how the situation had gone using his arms. “He was right there and I could’ve stopped him!”

“Chill out,” Hercules said with a mouth full of cereal. “So what, they got away? The only reason they could even get close to him was because they had a girl.” He paused then turned to face Tench, who was texting while laying on his back. “We should do that, you know.”

Richard gave a loud sound resembling a laugh. “Vandalize their statue?”

“No, I — Well, yeah, but I mean, use a girl. It wouldn’t hurt to use their tactic, right?”

“Sure,” Tench shrugged as he waved to one of his friends. “Does anyone know a girl who’d be down to camp out with a group of guys?”

Silence.

John raised an eyebrow and a timid hand. “Uh, maybe? She’s a defector.”

“Woah!” Richard put a thumbs up. “That’s hella lit. A defector camping out with the Trojan Knights? Tell her she’s in!”

Which is how Peggy Schuyler, ex-UCLA alumni, now a full fledged Trojan, ended up sleeping on the ground with strangers twice her size. She was excited to join them, claiming it was a plot to get more followers on Instagram, but it was obvious she genuinely wanted to help out. After hearing about the ‘attack’ the day before, Peggy was ready to forget about classes and jobs for once to defend her new school.

Day two went without a hitch.

“Maybe they got scared,” Peggy suggested the morning of day three. While John was on watch, she awoke earlier to bring them all coffee and breakfast, and then accidentally made them fall in love with her.

Besides John, obviously. Because he’s gay.

“Hey,” James nudged John while Peggy went on to rant about her old school. “Do you think I have a chance with her?” John sighed. “Oh, come on. You don’t think she’d be into me?”

John thought about the question for a bit. “She’s more into… muscular guys. Like Herc, for example.” At the comment, Hercules grinned.

James clicked his tongue. “Whatever.”

“And I wanted to try something new,” Peggy continued, “but my sisters stayed over there. Which is crazy! They’re both crazy, I can’t even believe they’re my sisters.”

It was around seven in the morning, not quite the hour where students crowd the area. Apparently, the people from before knew this as well.

The guys were all so distracted by Peggy that it took far too long for them to register the sound of paint splatter.

“Shit.”

They were facing opposite of the statue, and the guy from yesterday had a bucket of blue paint beside him. They stood up and looked from below as he immediately, after he realized he’d gotten their attention, dumped it all over Tommy Trojan, a stupidly wide grin on his face. “How’s it going fellas? I see you’ve got a new addition!”

Peggy tapped her foot impatiently.

The guy waved. “Hey Margaret.”

She picked up her coffee cup — which was, to John’s horror, still full of scalding coffee — and splattered the liquid up at the guy, who recoiled in pain.

“So it was you! Alex Hamilton!” Peggy pointed a sharp finger at the guy on the statue. “Fuck off!”

“Holy shit, I’m sorry Peggy!” The guy, Alex, flung around, scrubbing the coffee off of his face. “What the fuck!”

The group bursted into laughter, all but Peggy who still stood her ground to interrogate Alex.

“God, Alex! Can’t you go back to studying your ass off? Instead of coming here to do your stupid pranks?”

Alex chuckled, low and confident as though he hadn’t just gotten burns on his hands. “Well, see, there’s the thing is, I kinda like doing this.” Behind him, John spotted a bucket of paint, gold this time. “And you guys are good at wrapping up your Trojan, like, wow. So I’m just doing the next best thing, which is —”

That’s when John pulled down his legs, causing Alex to fall harshly on the ground.

Alex yelled out, “Go!”

“There are more?” Tench asked, searching for any suspects. They heard noises from behind the nearby building, where they run off to chase another ski mask.

Alex tried standing up, but John was able to hold him on the ground before he could do more damage. “Oh, no, not this time.”

“Wow,” Alex laughed nervously, “you’re… you’re really strong. Shit.” He grunts, trying to shove his elbow to get John off of him, to no avail. John could feel his smile growing, proud to have finally caught the evildoer.

“Stop struggling. You’re tiring yourself.”

Alex frowned, eventually ceasing his movement. “This blows.”

“Hah. You didn’t even get to touch the bear.”

“Oh, I’ll get my hands on that bear, just you wait.”

John hummed. “Don’t I know it.”

Alex tried his wrists again. They wouldn’t budge. “This ain’t fair. You got Peggy on your side.”

John became weary of the small talk Alex was trying to make. “And you had that tall chick. What’s the difference?” He paused. “And how do you know Peggy?”

“Oh!” Alex’s smile was less menacing. “They’re sisters! Angelica, the girl we had, she’s the oldest sister. She’s a total Bruins fan, she was so heartbroken when Peggy told her she was going to this shit hole.” John rolled his eyes at the last comment.

He heard stomping beside him before he saw Peggy marching up to the two. “Hey, Alex!”

Alex turned his head to stare at John. “Hey, help a guy out. She doesn’t like me.”

John gave an innocent shrug. “I don’t think I like you either.”

“Ugh. This so blows.”

Peggy stopped beside the two. “John, get off of him. I want to see his stupid face.”

John craned his neck to see her. “Well, you know, I’m actually here to hold him down.” Peggy stared. John started to regret even talking in the first place. “So if I got off of him, he’d get away —”

Peggy signaled for him to stop. “Yeah, I got that. But I need to talk to him. Wait. Scratch that. I need to yell at him. So get off, or I’ll make you get off.” She rolled up her sleeves.

John raised his hands. “Okay, chill. No need for violence.” Alex didn't move from his spot, looking up at Peggy from the ground. He glanced at John once last time, as if he’d prefer John over Peggy, but she had already made her move. The slap echoed through the plaza.

Peggy took a deep breath. “That’s what you get for vandalizing Tommy.” She slapped him again. “And that’s what you get for trying to get the bear!” Another slap. John winced. “And that one’s just because I wanted to.”

Alex sat up. “I think this is assault.”

John nodded. “Whoops.”

Tench emerged from the southern building, a scowl on his face along with blue spray paint on his hair. He yelled out, “They got away,” with his head hung low.

There were more students out now, walking to their classes, too groggy to care about what was going on. Alex, searching through the crowd, stood up. “Not all of them.” John thought he was talking about himself, and would have been correct, except a certain sister stepped in to save the day.

And not John’s day. Alex’s day.

“Sorry, boys, gotta go!” She waved at them before throwing paint balloons all around. Peggy screamed. Tench yelled. John sighed. Angelica laughed. Alex winked.

Needless to say, they got away.

 

Day Five: Now This is Just Silly.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” John, though his eyes were half opened, could clearly see Alex’s figure holding a pair of scissors in one hand and a blue mask in the other. “You’re all alone this time. Let me guess, all your other friends gave up on this stupid prank?”

Alex cursed. “I was sure there was nobody guarding this time.”

“There’s always someone guarding, Alex.”

He looked up. “You know my name?”

John shifted his weight to his other foot. “By now, I wouldn’t be surprised if I knew where you live. I’m John, the guy you’ve been tormenting this whole week.”

“Oh, there’s more to come.”

It was early, a few hours after midnight, the lights of the city too bright for stars to shine through. It was quite chilly, but John hadn’t minded if it meant catching Alex once and for all. “Okay.” He walked slowly towards Alex, who was caught in a corner. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way.”

Alex crossed his arms. “Yeah? What’s the easy way?”

“You leave.”

He laughed. “And what’s the hard way?”

John pulled out a paint balloon, red, from his pocket and threw it lightly in the air. He smirked. “You stay.”

Alex did another nervous giggle. “Oh, boy. This is gonna be a long night.”

The campus students complained that night about ruckus in the area, and awoke that morning to see red paint dropping everywhere. They thought it was blood at first, but one look at the embarrassed prankster covered with red sitting in the middle of the street gave them all the answers they needed.

“Can I at least shower?” Alex asked.

John shook his head. “Not unless it’s in your own home. Which you won’t be visiting for a while.”

Hercules greeted him carrying a bag of McDonald’s breakfast. “Dude, thanks for staying tonight. You’ve really outdone yourself.”

Alex perked up. “You bring me anything?”

Hercules glanced down. “…No?”

“I’ll share with you,” John reassured him.

Hercules was confused. “Hold up, wait. Why are we suddenly all chummy with this guy?”

John shrugged, handing a hash brown to Alex. “He’s waiting for campus security to arrive so that they’ll decide what his consequences will be. I’m just here to keep watch.”

Alex munched on the hash brown eagerly. “This is so embarrassing. I, a hard core UCLA fan and student, am forced to stay on this campus for more than necessary. In red paint.”

“Excuse me,” John laughed. “You’re the one infiltrating our school. If anything, we’re being much nicer to you than we have to. Pancake?” Alex took the fork and knife to cut himself a slice of the pancake.

Hercules nodded. “I guess I can deal with this.” He turned his head to look behind him. “Sorry, I’m just getting paranoid. Feel like that one girl is gonna pop out and rescue your ass.”

Alex waved him off. “She and Peggy made a pact. They both won’t participate in any more rival week stuff. It’s a stupid pact, if you ask me.” He cleared his throat. “Can you pass me the syrup?”

  
Day Seven: Why?

“What, I can’t just come here to visit?” Alex asked.

John shook his head. “Uh, not really? Look, the game already ended, why are you at my house?”

Alex leaned onto the door frame. “Alright, here’s the deal.” He took off his backpack and pulled out a bucket of blue paint. John couldn’t believe his eyes. “Either I paint your precious Tommy Trojan or…” He shut his mouth.

John blinked. “Or…?”

“Or… you go out with me?”

A cricket chirped.

“You, you mean like a date?”

Alex rolled his eyes. “No, I mean like a completely platonic walk in the park — Yes, I mean a date!” He shut his mouth again, realizing he’d just yelled out at five in the morning. “So? Are you just gonna stand there?”

John yawned. “I’d probably give you a coherent answer if I hadn’t just woken up from the best sleep I’ve had in a month.” He opened his door and motioned for Alex to enter. “Let me just get my shit together.”  
  
“Wait.” Alex ran in. “Is that a yes?”

“Why are you here at five in the morning?” John decided to ask.

“Oh, well.” Alex blushed. “It was kind of a spur of the moment. I guess I was trying to find an excuse to come back here and then Angelica told me I probably only wanted to see you again.” He played with his hands. “You’re kinda hot, don’t know if you’ve noticed.”

There was silence as John sat on the couch, seemingly deep in concentration. Finally, he stood up. “You know what,” he grabbed his hair and wrapped it with a rubber band, “this week was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, ever since…” he decided against talking about his father so soon. “What I’m trying to say is, I’d like a date. So yeah.”

“Oh thank god.” Alex fell on the couch.

John smiled and sat next to him. “What would the Trojan Knights say about me going on a date with you? The dude who tried to vandalize Tommy three times on rival week?”

Alex shrugged. “They’ll probably hate you.”

“Yeah.”

The room was dark, no one bothering to turn on the lights switch. They stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something and fill in the silence.

“You know, I brought that bucket of blue for a reason.”

John groaned, seeing Alex hold up the now opened can of paint with a grin. “You’re really gonna do this again?” He nodded. “Like I’ll let that happen.”

“Ooh, a challenge.” Alex jumped from the couch before John could snatch the paint from him. “Haha! Try and catch me, John!” He ran out of the door and sprinted, looking back him to see John close behind him, except in this instance, he had a smile instead of a frown.

They ended up slammed against a wall in an intense make out session at five in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> On the day of publishing this is the annual USC vs. UCLA football game, this time hosted by USC. If you were wondering why I wrote this, that's why.


End file.
